Ezzy pushed a roll of twenties across the tabletop. “I’m fed up with the conquistador,” he said.

“Huh? What?” Luciana peeked over the newspaper she’d been skimming. Her eyes widened behind a pair of heavy glasses. “Dude! Who brings that much cash into a Denny’s? Put it away! Madre de dios! What’s wrong with you?” She dropped a sticky napkin over the money. They weren’t in McAllen’s worst neighborhood, but Luci erred on the side of caution ever since a pickpocket stole her wallet. The thief made off with two credit cards and a “Buy Ten, Get One Free” coupon for Café Maria. Luci had been one small black coffee away from a complementary latte. The loss nearly broke her heart.

“What’s wrong with me?” Ezzy asked. “I’m fed up with—”

“The conquistador. Right. So? He’s been a pain since the sixteenth century. And what does that guy have to do with…?” She gestured at the small fortune.

“It’s payment for…” He pantomimed stabbing somebody.

So begins “The Sea Under Texas,” an fantasy adventure in the Rio Grande Valley. Read the whole story in Quantum Fairy Tales Issue #11 (http://quantumfairytales.com/). If you like it, I will love you forever, and if you don’t like it, I will love that you gave it a shot.

ABOVE: A pair of bison in McAllen, TX. They aren’t wild … it’s a long story. Fun fact = I took this photo in 2012. Since then, a fuzzy calf has joined the family! There are no bison in “The Sea Under Texas.” I just wanted a cute picture for this post.

I don’t know, I kinda liked the casualness of how he shrugged it off — like with the gun earlier. Like it’s just another session of a game he’s been playing for a while. In fact, I think that casualness is what made the story. He had a whim, he got tricked, no harm no foul.